In november 2023 the GSb Researchbureau released a report on student well-being. It was a mixed-method paper in comparison with a similar paper by the GSb from 2017. The results of the research were worrying: only 1.8% of the participants indicated that stress is not constantly present in their life and more than one third of the participants indicated that it is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with challenges that happen in their life. At the ceremony the Rector Magnificus from the RUG and a member of the CvB of the Hanze University of Applied Sciences received the report. You can find the paper here.
Abstract:
Students experience stress, and in the current research we aim to analyse six potential stressors for students in Groningen: Academic Stress, Energy Crisis, Housing Crisis, Student Loans, Working Alongside Studies and COVID-19 Pandemic. We investigated how the current situation concerning stress and subjective well-being (SWB) among students is and how each of the potential stressors, as well as substance use, is related to stress and SWB. We analysed these relationships through correlational analyses, regression analyses and open
questions. A questionnaire was shared among students in Groningen (the Netherlands), from which 171 participants completed the quantitative part and over 220 participants answered the open questions. Correlational analysis revealed that all stressors were significantly correlated with both stress (positively) and SWB (negatively), and that neither drug or alcohol use is significantly correlated with stress and SWB. Both simple and multiple regression analyses revealed that Academic Stress is the biggest stressor, then the Energy Crisis and, following, the Housing Crisis. Students do not seem to be much more or less stressed than in 2017, and answers to the stress questionnaire as well as to the open questions suggest that the situation among students in Groningen should be improved: only 1.8% of the participants indicated that stress is not constantly present in their life and more than one third of the participants indicated that it is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with challenges that happen in their life. Examples of the effects of the Energy and Housing Crisis on students are discussed, including suggestions on how the situation could be improved.